


on the edge of paradise

by fightforyourwrite



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Beaches, Diving, F/M, Little Mermaid Elements, Ocean, Post-Canon, Sunsets, Swimming, Undella Town, Water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29187837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightforyourwrite/pseuds/fightforyourwrite
Summary: Nate heads east in search of solace — when the pressure of being the region’s pride and joy becomes too much, when the mysteries surrounding the past feel like they’ll never leave his head..........He doesn't expect to see her in Undella Town.
Relationships: Kyouhei | Nate & Mei | Rosa, Kyouhei | Nate/Mei | Rosa
Kudos: 10





	on the edge of paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing Visorshipping after replaying White 2 in this holy year of 2021? It's more likely than you think.

Nathan “Nate” Blackwood heads east in search of solace — when the pressure of being the region’s pride and joy becomes too much, when the mysteries surrounding the past feel like they’ll never leave his head. 

So he tells Hugh not to chase after him, he tells his mother not to worry, and he tells the league that he’ll only be gone for three days. Then in a flash, he escapes his world on the back of his Braviary. 

…

…

…

He doesn’t expect to see her in Undella Town. 

Despite the time they have spent apart, she recognizes him. Nate remembers her from outside the Battle Subway all those months ago and Rosa remarks that everyone in Unova should know who he is, whether it be because of his battling prowess or because of his films at Pokestar Studios. (the  _ Love and Battles _ series happens to be her favorite.)

Nate thinks that running into eachother is a coincidence and Rosa claims that it’s fate. She’s here for the same reasons he is, to get away from it all and relax. They haven’t battled together in a while, but when Rosa asks him to hang out while they’re both in town, Nate can’t find a reason to say no. 

…

…

…

The next day, Nate meets Rosa at a cafe late in the afternoon. He had overslept in his rented motel room, causing him to arrive at their meeting with a serious case of bedhead. He’s nervous despite their technical familiarity, but Rosa laughs it off and remarks that his messy brown hair is rather cute. 

They catch up over a cup of coffee and some brunch. Nate has his usual black coffee and Rosa shows a fondness for white blueberry tea with just a dash of Sinnohan honey.

Like everyone else in Unova, Rosa is aware of his status as champion, but she doesn’t press too much about it. All she really does is congratulate him for his victory and recalls seeing his fated match against Iris on TV. She had been in Castelia’s Pokemon Center when she saw the battle playing on a screen and realized that she recognized the league’s challenger. 

She then goes on to take the reins for most of the conversation. Nate finds himself liking this choice quite a lot, since he doesn’t really feel like talking and actually enjoys the sound of her voice and the steely blue shade of her eyes. 

She tells him of her exploits in the Battle Subway. Her reputation has been built off her winning streak and her battle style — she favours a good defense and her Emboar has been known for being a stone wall on two legs. Nate congratulates her thusly on her accomplishments like any supportive friend would.

Rosa also talks about her upbringing, which makes Nate realize that he had never really asked her about it on the day that they met. She had lived in Castelia with her father before deciding to become a trainer. She had dabbled in Pokemon training before, but the Battle Subway was what motivated her to pursue it full-time. 

Nate comes to realize that they have more in common than he thought. They are both the children of divorcees — his parents split when he was six and hers did when she was eleven. They both participated in competitive sports — he’s a former gymnast and she’s a former platform/springboard diver. They also both quit competitive sports — he retired after fracturing his three fingers on his right hand and she stopped when she decided to become a Pokemon trainer. 

In contrast, some aspects of their upbringings are different. Nate grew up in the quiet suburbs of Aspertia, a place where people live when they want a care-free life. Rosa grew up in the bustling chaos of Castelia, where people rarely ever slow down and the rent has been known to induce panic attacks. 

For someone who he felt was mostly a stranger, Nate finds himself liking Rosa Blanco more and more. The day they met feels like so long ago, which makes Nate suddenly regret not speaking to her like this when he could. 

…

…

…

They spend the rest of their time on the beach. Undella is quiet in late March. With spring break over and the university crowd gone, the whole place is conveniently empty. Only locals are present now, finally finally enjoying some peace after the place has been overrun with tourists.

The sand is where they introduce some of their Pokemon to one another. Rosa is in the possession of a large, bulky Audino that gives Nate a sharp, unnerving glare. He isn’t sure if this is because the Hearing Pokemon doesn’t like him or just wants to know what his intentions are with its trainer, similar to how an overprotective parent would. In contrast, Nate’s softy of an Arcanine takes quite the liking to Rosa, as it immediately begins licking and nuzzling her like they’re old friends. 

The two trainers walk by the surf with their Pokemon behind them. They continue to talk about things, like life and battles and the latest film that Pokestar studios is asking Nate to do.

Although he’s under a contract, he tells her what he can about his most current cinematic project. Mr. Deeoh’s next film is meant to be a fantasy flick in the same vein as  _ Mystery Doors of the Magical Land _ or  _ The Giant Woman! _ The film is an adaptation of an old fairy tale, a story about a young mermaid girl and her Alomomola who live under the waves of the sea. The mermaid girl falls in love with a human Prince — portrayed by Nate — and becomes determined to live on the surface with him. After the Sea Witch — played by Sabrina — gives the mermaid girl legs in exchange for her tongue, she goes up to the surface world, only to realize that the Prince doesn’t love her the way she wished that he would. 

Then she dies. The mermaid girl gets told to kill the Prince in order to reclaim her fishtail, but she refuses and leaps off a boat into the sea where she turns into seafoam and becomes no more. 

Suffice to say, Nate isn’t exactly 100% sold on the plot. Apparently, the studio is putting the script through some major rewrites. 

Considering what has happened with the human world in the last few months — paramilitary squads freezing cities and even doomsday cults running amok in Kalos — he doesn’t see why one would  _ want _ to live on land. He also wonders why people still continue to tell this fairy tale to  _ children. _

But Rosa says otherwise. She expresses fondness for the old story. The romantic in her says it’s a tale about unrequited, but passionate love. The realistic, more rational side of her says it’s about how wanting is better than having. Nonetheless, she’s curious to see how it will play on the big screen. Plus, she’s not exactly complaining about the idea of Nate playing a Prince again. 

With a roll of his eyes, Nate can’t help but smile. Her positivity is infectious, a jolt of life he needs in these trying times. 

For the next hour, they walk on the shores of Undella, trading more stories about life and love and mermaids as they enjoy the sight of the sea.

...

…

…

They decide to swim during the last few hours of sunlight. Fortunately, both of them were thinking ahead and wore their swimwear underneath their clothes. 

With Nate’s Samurott and Rosa’s Starmie, the two explore the waters of Undella Bay, grasping onto the backs of their ‘Mons as they go under the waves. 

The world below the waves is tinted blue, the sun above in the cloudless sky fading into a large ball of white. The sand on the floor is as untouched and pristine as nature made it. Pokemon swim freely in their domain. A brave mama Lanturn leads a school of baby Chinchou through the currents, a group of Remoraid chase some Mantyke in a game of tag, and some young Staryu take a liking to Rosa’s Starmie, playfully spinning around the older star-shaped Pokemon. 

When Nate looks at Rosa, whether they are swimming with the ‘Mons or surfacing for air, she never loses that same bright smile on her face. 

With a world like this underneath the waves, Nate doesn’t understand why one would leave it behind to head to the surface. 

…

…

…

Even after they’ve explored the waters, they decide to enjoy the sun while it’s still out. 

On the sand, Nate and Rosa show off their old skills to each other. Although he hasn’t competed in a while, he still likes to flex his gymnastic skills just to remind himself that he has them. He shows off some of his old routines with the sand cushioning his landings. Even when he was a child, floor routines have always been his favourite thing to do because it feels like the closest thing to flying. 

Rosa is no slouch either. To the surprise of no one, platform and springboard diving is heavily based in gymnastics. Even though that unbelievably long hair of hers is getting in the way, she shows off some moves of her own, flipping and tucking through the air like it’s nothing. Her moves could easily put her own Starmie to shame. 

Somehow, she manages to goad Nate into following her onto some nearby cliffs. Since the idea of cliff diving scares him shitless, he is content to sit on the rocks and watch Rosa diving into the water. They’re not too high up when she shows off her basic skills, like a back tuck and forward roll. From the way her Starmie lounges in the water — somehow, the faceless ‘Mon manages to look  _ bored  _ — Nate guesses that Rosa does this often (to the point of her Pokemon losing interest in it.) 

It takes some prodding, but eventually Rosa gets Nate to try some diving for himself. She had initially thought that the acrobatic and nimble Nate would take to platform diving well, when in actuality her attempts to show him the ropes leads to him belly flopping. Several times. 

Nonetheless, she manages to get some decent dives out of him. His jack knife is impressive for someone who was scared shitless of diving mere moments ago. Thus they spend the rest of their time in the sun leaping off cliffs into the waters below. 

…

…

…

The world is still warm when the sun begins to set. Nate and Rosa sit on the higher cliffs of Undella to take in the view. Yards below them is the water, looking as tantalizing as it did earlier that day. 

As Nate looks out to where the sky meets the sea, he can’t help but think about how big the whole world is, how far one would have to travel into the ocean until finding land again. Then suddenly, the thoughts of old mysteries start to fill his head again, the thoughts he came all the way out here to avoid. He grumbles and rubs his temples with his finger. He’s getting a headache.

Rosa is quick to notice this — she takes her eyes off the horizon and asks, “You doing good there, Sport?” 

Nate raises an eyebrow at her. “Sport?” 

“When my folks split, a lotta people called me  _ ‘Sport’ _ when they wanted me to feel better,” Rosa explains. “Which was a lot. I was a sensitive child.” 

Nate lets out a chuckle that sounds more like a grunt. “Yeah, same here.” Although he would more often get  _ ‘Buddy,’ ‘Pal,’ _ or  _ ‘Big Guy’ _ if someone was feeling especially sorry for him. 

Rosa keeps pressing about what she sees. She nudges his shoulder with her knuckle. “Really though, what’s up? You were smiling, like, ten minutes ago.” 

Nate figures that there’s no point in hiding his words from her, she’d probably just prod further. He asks a simple question.

“Do you know who Hilda Whitmore is?” 

Rosa nods along. “Of course. She was the girl who defeated Team Plasma two… almost three years ago, right? She was Champion for a while before she, uh…” 

“Disappeared,” Nate finishes. He furrows his eyebrows as he glances below the cliffs they’re sitting on, where the waves of the surf gently caress the rocks. He speaks his mind as he watches the water churn into seafoam. “She left a while ago... she was looking for someone. She left all her friends, left all her loved ones behind.” 

“You sound like you’ve been digging up snakes, Nate,” Rosa remarks. Like him, she’s not mincing her words. 

He sighs and shakes his head. “No… I just wonder where she is. Her friends miss her, so does her Mom.” He clenches his fist as he keeps on thinking. He only knows about her through word-of-mouth and outdated articles. Yet somehow, he can’t get the thought of her and her legacy out of his head. “I just know that the person she’s looking for isn’t lost anymore.”

There’s something wistful in the way he looks towards the sea. He suddenly stands up as if to look farther than he already is. 

“Wherever she is… I hope she knows that she can stop searching.” 

And with that said, Nate jumps. 

Leaping outwards into the horizon, he soars through the air for a split second. Gravity does the rest and brings him down towards the water. He lands feet first and disappears underneath the waves. 

He opens his brown eyes and looks around at the world below. It’s darker without the light of midday, yet somehow he feels at home. Even without his Samurott guiding him around, he doesn’t want to leave this place — or else he’d risk returning to the mysteries and life that he came to avoid in the first place. So he tells himself to stay here for a while, even if it’s just for the minute that he can hold his breath. 

Behind him, Nate hears the muffled sound of something else crashing into the water. He turns around to see Rosa, having dived in head first. She swims towards him with the grace of a Finneon, her chestnut brown hair floating around her pretty face and eyes. 

He can’t help but smile. 

She swims forward to him, takes his hand, and together the two explore the waters of Undella Bay for just a little longer. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love how I put all them mermaid references in there yet I took the title from an Ellie Goulding song


End file.
